Aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder as assessed by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure

Abstract

ObjectivePsychodynamic and cognitive theories postulate a prominent role of aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Explicit assessment of aggressiveness in OCD has yielded diverging results. The present study aimed to investigate aggressiveness in OCD using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). MethodPatients with OCD (n = 59) were compared to non-clinical controls (NCs; n = 31) on an IRAP using self-referential statements and the explicit State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II (STAXI-II). During the computer-based IRAP, participants were required to respond as quickly and accurately (“correct” or “incorrect”) to the relation of two presented stimuli (e.g., “I am” + “aggressive”). ResultsDIRAP-Scores for the I am aggressive trial type were significantly higher in NCs compared to the OCD sample (d = 0.73). Patients with OCD scored significantly higher on the Trait Anger scales and the Anger Expression-Out scale of the STAXI-II. The I am aggressive DIRAP-Score correlated with the overall Trait Anger scale (r = −.33, p = .001) and with the Anger Expression-In scale (r = −0.31, p = .003). ConclusionsPatients with OCD were more ambivalent about their own aggressiveness than NCs. These findings were in line with patients’ explicit aggressiveness.